Sara-Imee Versus Leni-Risa In 2028?

Former budget secretary and Liberal Party stalwart Florencio Abad floated the idea of having women as contenders for the country’s top positions in 2028.

In an interview with “Sa Totoo Lang” on One PH on Wednesday, Feb. 18, Abad Vice President Sara Duterte, who declared that she would run for president in 2028, could have Sen. Imee Marcos as running mate.

Meanwhile, former vice president and now Naga City Mayor Leni Robredo could vie for the presidency again with Sen. Risa Hontiveros as her tandem.

Robredo lost to President Marcos in the 2022 elections with Duterte as his running mate. But with the Marcos-Duterte coalition gone, Abad said the chances of the opposition winning in the next elections had become bigger.

According to Abad, Robredo is still not inclined to seek a national position because she wants to continue her late husband’s legacy in Naga.

But Abad said two years could be a long time in politics and a lot of things could still happen.

If not Robredo, Abad said Hontiveros could also be a standard bearer for the opposition given her performance at the Senate and as a policymaker.

“Bakit hindi? Kung titignan mo ang kanyang performance sa Senado, napakagaling niya bilang policymaker. May kakayahan siyang mamuno sa larangan ng presidential at vice presidential position,” Abad noted.

For her part, Imee Marcos threw her support behind Duterte, saying the Vice President’s announcement formalizes the call of her supporters and unsettles her critics.

In a statement, Imee said Duterte’s decision “sets in stone” the clamor for her to seek the presidency.

Imee described the Vice President as the “opposite” of the present administration and a leader who could provide direction amid what she called the country’s lack of clear direction.

She also cited Duterte’s experience in helping the poor, the vulnerable and victims of abuse, saying these equip her to address the nation’s problems.

“She has the solutions,” Imee said.

The senator has publicly backed the Dutertes after a falling out with her younger brother, the President.

Sen. Robinhood Padilla, a vocal Duterte ally, pushed for a “girl power” tandem, with Imee as Duterte’s running mate.

Asked by reporters if she would be willing to run as vice president to Duterte, Marcos said: “I am blindly obedient to her.”

Sen. Bong Go also backed Duterte, but brushed off talks that he could be her running mate.

“Let us not talk of politics at the moment. Work first. That’s what the Filipinos need now,” he said in a chance interview.

Sought for comment, Senate President Vicente Sotto III said he was no longer surprised.

“It simply confirms what many knew all along. Although we still need to see by October of 2027 what transpires. I do not have a crystal ball,” he told reporters in a Viber message. – With Marc Jayson Cayabyab